School bus problems worry Portsmouth parents

Wednesday

Sep 13, 2017 at 12:10 PMSep 13, 2017 at 2:44 PM

Elizabeth Dinan edinan@seacoastonline.com @DinanElizabeth

PORTSMOUTH — In the two weeks since school started, Mark Herrholz's children "have yet to be on time for school," at the middle and high schools, and are spending up to 50 minutes on a bus to get there, he told the School Board Tuesday night.

On top of that, said Herrholz, a parent and city firefighter, the bus assigned to pick his children up in the afternoon is no longer allowed to go all the way up Martha Terrace, forcing the driver to do three-point turn to reverse directions.

"I don't know of any insurance company, or anybody who thinks that backing up a large bus filled with children is a good idea," Herrholz said.

Superintendent of Schools Stephen Zadravec acknowledged "logistical issues" associated with a later school-start time this year for middle and high school students. He said the School Department is working with the bus company to resolve the problems. The superintendent said adjustments will be made and information about those adjustments will be announced Friday.

A father and city police officer, Michael Maloney also appeared before the school officials Tuesday night to say his 6-year-old is now spending as long as 50 minutes on a bus to get home from Dondero School two miles away. He said there are three buses bringing Dondero students home this year, as opposed to seven last year, and bus drivers are telling parents like him they don't know, within a half-hour, when their children will get home from school.

Maloney said he called the school last week "because it was approaching the 30-minute mark and I didn't know if my daughter got on the bus or not."

Last week, police received several calls from parents with concerns after school because their children had not returned home when expected.

Maloney said a bus driver told him there are more students on the bus this year, "we're doing the best we can and I can't guarantee what time your kid is getting off the bus."

"She said she spends 15 to 20 minutes at one bus stop because she has to match kindergartners with parents, while the other kids wait," Maloney said. "My daughter is on the bus now approaching an hour, to go a couple of miles."

Herrholz said, "The busing system put in place, putting the three school levels on the same buses, is creating a logistical nightmare for parents and for the students themselves. The traffic problem that's being created by all the buses going from one school to the other, and parents now shuttling their kids because they can't get them to where they need to be, is creating a bigger problem."

Zadravec acknowledged Wednesday some of the buses have been arriving at the middle and high school "a bit late in the morning."

"We see this as a function of getting familiar with new routes, taking the time to get to know students at each stop, and getting a few runs in to be precise about overall timing," he said. "We are working with the bus company now that we know which routes need to be adjusted slightly in time and will be sending information out to parents this week to publicize any changes in route times to start next week. These changes will eliminate the late arrival issue."

Zadravec added, "The length of bus runs overall is not significantly longer than in years past. That said, there are a couple of runs we are working on to shorten the time for kids on the bus. Overall, we had a great start to the year and many of our high school teachers have reported they do see a difference with the students in the morning" because of the later start time.

Zadravec said during Tuesday's School Board meeting that there are enough bus drivers and the rule of thumb for how long students should be on a bus is a maximum of 30 minutes.

In addition to new information being announced Friday, School Board Chairwoman Leslie Stevens said parents with concerns are encouraged to contact the school business office at (603) 812-4472.

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